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I finally decided to go through with it and plan out my work outs for the week via my chalkboard as inspired by Colleen’s Monday post!

(okay, it looks messy – but it’s fun and helpful!!)

I rarely post my runs (that’s Jamie’s forte!) because I’m just getting started and I’m no where CLOSE to being a marathoner. I honestly don’t feel confident with my times yet, but I’m trying to work up my speed so I can complete a 5k/4 miler soon and feel really, really fantastic about my time! (I just can’t settle in my life.) Therefore, I’m not really trying to run long distances right now.

Yesterday, my plan was just to shoot for 30 minutes, but when I got to the gym all the treadmills were taken. I started with a 10 minute “warm up” on the elliptical until I was like a hawk on an empty treadmill. (Didn’t even get a good one with the tv!!)

good for now ;)

My afternoon snack called for a green juice so of course these little guys snuck their way back into my life.

I asked for the white chocolate and he added in a strawberry white chocolate for me to taste. He knows what he’s doing, because the one’s he throws in for free keep me coming back for more! sooooo good.

Now let me get to the more exciting part of my workout yesterday. You’re probably wondering – GYMNASTICS?!?!! Yep, that’s right – last night I went to gymnastics and my mom did NOT drop me off. ;)

My roommate and I headed to a beginner/intermediate adult gymnastics class. We were both so nervous, she hasn’t done tumbling in 6 years and I hadn’t done it in 7 or 8. (Plus, I was never very advanced, I didn’t do it competitively!)

We had NO idea what to expect. We started off with warm ups of jogging, walking, skipping, jogging backwards, and other various strange things – skipping, duck walk.

Then, onto the stretches. That’s where I started getting lost and giggly. We did all kinds of easy stretches along with more difficult splits, frogs, 3 sets of 10 sits ups, push ups, and candle sticks, etc. I got so excited when we did downward dog (SOMETHING I KNOW – except it had a different name!!) All these stretches made me realize how un-flexible I really am nowadays despite my best yoga efforts.

After stretching, we split into groups of beginner and intermediate. Let’s just say – I was quick to jump into the beginner bucket. We did headstands, handstands, forward/backward rolls, all kinds of cart wheels, round offs, etc. (We got so dizzy!!) After all of the “easy stuff” we moved into front hand springs and back hand springs, starting by using big roller mats.

Oopsie - I told the teachers I had ADD or something because everytime I got up to do something I had to say “wait… what do I do…?!?” They joked I was exactly like their little kid students. I really was!!

I think I was extra nervous because this is the first time I did any kind of gymnastics after getting spinal fusion surgery when I was 17 years old – metal screws in my back… what, what!

You could go to the tumble track if you felt comfortable, which my roommate did. Look at her go!!

I chose to keep practicing with the mat and then had my own fun jumping on the trampoline doing “splits.” All in all, it was a great new way to work out, and today I’m totally feeling all the normally untouched muscles I worked. I crossed out my morning run today because my body cannot move!! It feels awesome. I definitely want to go back and hopefully I’m one class closer to a round off back hand spring on the tumble track!!

Something I noticed – I have incredibly weak wrists, I always felt it in yoga, but it was something I could deal with; however, they were SO bad last night – I definitely need to strengthen them if I want to keep going back. My roommate suggested “soup can” exercises that she used to do… anyone else have suggestions?!

18 Responses to “gymnastics mania !!!!!”

ahaha, no, but seriously… I worked at Catch 31, a restaurant where cocktail waitresses have to carry EVERYTHING on a tray at ALL times.. I would literally wake up in the middle of the night with my wrist killing me. I’ll bet mine are pretty strong!

Im so glad I found this article! I had a spinal fusion about 5 years ago, and didnt think I could ever go back to gymnastics. Im amazed that youre on your way to doing back handsprings, something I thought Id never do again! Did any of the flips hurt your back at all? And do you have any flexibility in your back at all?

Hi! I had my surgery about six years ago. I just want to mention – I did not consult a doctor before doing this class. I’m only doing very beginner stuff as I was never very advanced to begin with! I didn’t actually do any flips yet, only those with the mat as shown here. I have some flexibility in my back – limited for now as I’m not as flexible as I used to be so I can’t tell if any is due to the surgery. I had no pain in my back during the class, only basic “I haven’t used this muscle in years” kind of pain. I already do some yoga, as well which might help. It just depends what kind of surgery you had?? The only limitation that was set on mine was no bungee-jumping. Feel free to email me @ cupcakedynamite@gmail.com to discuss more!!